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i22d TRANSACTIONS 

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Copy 1 

OF THE 



FIRST ANNUAL REUNION 



OF THE 



122(1 Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 



HELD AT 



IvANCASTBR, F>A., 



Thursday, May 17, 1883. 




LANCASTER, PA. 

THE NEW ERA STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 
1884. 



TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



FIRST ANNUAL REUNION 



OF THE 



122(1 Regiment Pennsylvania Volnnteers. 



HELD AT 



T^ANCASTER, PA., 



Thursday, May 17, 1883. 






LANCASTER, PA. 

THE NEW ERA STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 
1884. 



<\ 









COMMITTEES. 



^' 



General Executive Committee: 
Col. EMLEN FRANKLIN, Chairman. 

THOMAS C. WHlxTo^,^^.- ^ w\f V^l^S.^-" , 

Seigt. GEORGE F. SPRENGER, Secretary. 

On Ceremonies : 
Hon. JOHN T. MacGONIGLE, Chairman 

I^ieut. ISAAC MULLIKIN 11,. Trwrrxr o o 

GEORGE M. BORGER. 
On Rendezvous and Collation: 
Sergt. GEORGE F. SPRENGER, Chairman. 

GEORGE W. CORMENr. Z^'^T.^Tur ... 

On Finance and Contribution • 

tRANK GALBRAITH. 
On JTotifleation of Members : 
n. . , „„„ "''°'' ''°'' ^°^^'"> MOGOVERU, Chalrmau. 
Zu B™S,T??5C ct B Sr ""f "■ ^'^-^^OKER, CO. P. 



' « " ••♦,.< 



' 'PRfisilJEi«t, Col.' EMLEN FRANKLIN. 

Chaplain, Rev. ELIM KIRK. 

ORATORS, K. ALLEN LOVELL, Esq., J. DAVISDUFFIELD, Esq. 

Historian, Dk. JOHN S. SMITH. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



At 2 O'clock the members assembled at Maemierchor Hall, and, 
after forming by companies, marched down East King street, led 
by the City Band, and, escorted by a delegation of the George H. 
Thomas Post, G. A. R., they marched to Centre Sqnare and 
around the Soldiers' Monument. After indulging in a short 
street parade the members marched to Fulton Hall. The stage 
was occupied by Colonel Emlen Franklin, Lieut. Colonel Edward 
McGovern, Adjutant D. H. Heitshu, Chaplain Elim Kirk, Quar- 
termaster John T. MacGonigle, Captain George Musser, the 
Speakers and the Committee of Ai'i'angements. The Band played 
" Star Spangled Banner," and " Yankee Doodle." Mayor Mac- 
Gonigle called the meeting to order, and nominated Col. Emlen 
Franklin for President. The nomination met with vociferous 
applause, and when the Colonel stepped forward three hearty 
cheers weiife given him. 

Colonel Emlen Franklin's Speech. 

The Colonel made a brief speech of welcome, beginning with 
the remark that there was no need to tell how proud and happy 
he felt on having been called on to preside, and saying that 
there was no need to speak in a formal manner to them, for 
they knew as well as he the object and intents of the re-union. It 
was a sort of family gathering, where old memories would be re- 
called. For 3^ears this re-union had been talked of among the com- 
rades abroad as well as those here in Lancaster, and the large, 
enthusiastic meeting was the result of that agitation. Words 
failed him on this occasion. The feelings that filled his breast 
throbbed also in theirs. 

Twent}^ 3^ears had passed since the Regiment returned from 
the war, and what recollections come with the occasion? The 
memory of the dead was tinged with sadness, but the braves who 
went before now sleep the sleep of the blest. The first thing he 
and his comrades should do, and the best thing the^^ could do, 



4 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

was to return thanks to God for sparing their lives and permit- 
ting them to be here at this time ; he therefore asked all present 
to join in prayer. 

Prayer by Rev. Elim Kirk, of Philadelphia, Pa. 

Music by the Band, "Hail Columbia." 

Then came K. Allen Lovell, Esq., of Huntingdon, Pa,; then 
J. Davis Duffleld, Esq., of Philadelphia, Pa.; then followed the 
History of the Regiment by John S. Smith, D. D. S., of Lan- 
caster, Pa. 

Colonel McGovern now announced that the banquet would be 
held at Moennerchor Hall, the Band played and the exercises of 
the afternoon were ended. 

In the Evening. 

The boys of the 122d, with their guests, Post 84, G. A. R., 
gathered around the festive board. 

Colonel Franklin presided. 

After the collation was eaten, the President offered the follow- 
ing sentiment : 

" The Judiciary, our protection in time of peace as the soldiers 
were in war." 

Responded to by Hon. Wm. N. Ashman. 

J. Davis Duffleld entei'tained the boys with a ten minutes' 
speech. 

Sergeant George F. Sprenger read a number of letters and tele- 
grams received. The first paper was the following greeting, 
adopted by the 99th Regiment survivors at their re-union: 

" That your re-union may be a grand success, and your enjoy- 
ment and pleasure in meeting old comrades after so many years 
may be greater than it was twenty years ago on 3'our return home, 
is the wish of your fellow soldiers and comrades of the Red Dia- 
mond." 

A letter was read from Miss M. Slaymaker, representing the 
" Patriot Daughters," thanking the Committee for the invitation 
to be present at the re-union. 

George S. Boone offered a resolution that a committee be ap- 
pointed to make all the preliminary arrangements for a perma- 
nent organization. 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 5 

Captain George M. Franklin moved an amendment that tlie 
Executive Committee, as now appointed, be authorized to report 
a permanent organization. The amendment was unanimouslj'^ 
adopted, and a motion to adjourn, to meet at the call of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee, having been adopted, the boys slowly passed 
from the Hall, and their first re-union was over. 



PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 



CoL. EMLEN FRANKLIN, Chairman. 

Col. EDWARD McGOVERN. 

Hon. JOHN T. MacGONIGLE. 

Capt. GEORGE M. FRANLLIN, Treasurer. 

Capt. JAMES F. RICKSECKER. 

Sergt. DAVID C. HAVERSTICK. 

Serot. GEORGE F. SPRENGER, Secretary. 



Transactions of the Fii-st Annual Reunion 



ORATION. 



BY K. ALLEN LOVELL, ESQ., OF HUNTINGDON, PA. 



Comrades : 

Standing here to-day, in a busy and peaceful city, in this 
beautiful and spacious Hall, and in a presence so pleasing and 
significant, strange and interesting memories come, like flood 
tides from the past. 

Here, before me and about me, I look into faces that to my 
eyes have been invisible for twenty years, and yet as we have each 
traversed the teeming avenues of business life, in all that long 
interval, up and down this great Commonwealth, how often, in 
memory, the familiar voice of some comrade that has cheered 
and helped us on the weary march has again sounded in our ears 
and transported us back to the time when our life seemed em- 
bodied in the song : 

"All quiet along the Potomac to-night, 
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming, 

Their tents in the rays of the clear autumn moon, 
Or the light of the watch-fire's gleaming." 

But when awakened fromour reverie by the noise and the din of 
the busy life about us, we have thanked God it was but a dream, 
and that the visions floating before us were but memories of the 
past. 

As we greet each other on this anniversary occasion let us re- 
call for a moment the dark days of 18fi2, when it seemed as if 
the Union, so dear to us all, purchased at such great sacrifices of 
blood and treasure,, was about to be rent in twain; and the grand 
States, comprising empires within their broad and rich bosoms, 
were to become independent and hostile governments. 

The magnificent Army of the Potomac, after knocking at the 
very gates of Richmond, had been driven back, defeated and dis- 
pirited,leaving many of its grandest men,noblest spirits, maimed 
and dying on those eaxly and terrible battle fields, and many 
more to- suffer and perish in the horrible prisons of the South. 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 7 

Thoughtful and patriotic men all over the North, as they met 
each other in the streets, on their farms, in their stores and offl 
ces, spoke with bated breath and sorrowful hearts of the latest 
disaster to the Union arms. The very blackness of darkness 
seemed ready to settle down upon the country; and yet all this 
impenetrable gloom, as we look back over the past, from the 
present, seems to have been needed to properly awaken and 
arouse that great slumbering giant, the North, to the fact that 
the Nation's life was in peril. 

Scarcely had the news of the army's disaster before Richmond 
been flashed over the countr}^ when a deep-seated feeling seemed 
to possess men of all classes. They said, here is a war in which 
ever}' citizen has a personal duty to perform. Men gathered 
from their farms, their stores, their offices to fill the depleted 
ranks, — great schools all over the North, filled with young men 
in training for the intellectual conflicts of life, became military 
camps, and all conversation, literature and song were alike con- 
secrated to the cause that rested on all hearts. 

Under such circumstances as these, only a short distance from 
this city, on the 12th of August, 1862, was organized the Regi- 
ment whose re-union we celebrate to-day. Composed largely of 
young men who had no previous knowledge of military duty, ac- 
tive measures were at once begun to acquire proficiency in drill 
and render the men acquainted with the art of war. Scarcely 
had the organization been performed, however, when the disasters 
of Pope's campaign rendering it necessary that all available 
forces should be gathered about the Capital, the Regiment was 
summoned to Washington, where, on the 16th of August, it was 
reported to General Casey, then in command of the city's de- 
fenses. 

No comrades here present, I venture, but recall the day that 
our grand old Regiment, 1,000 strong, proudly marched through 
the streets of the National Capital, the Stai'sand Stripes floating- 
over us, and sweet strains of martial music quickening every 
step; but before the '■ Long Bridge " had been crossed, and we 
had climbed the bluffs that rise on the Virginia side, the burning 
August sun, whose heat was intensified by reflection from the dry 
sand and parched earth, the clouds of dust rising to stifle and 
choke the moving columns, the heated musket, the well-filled 



'8 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

knapsack that strangely seemed to grow heavier at every step — 
all these conspired to destroy forever the beautiful visions of the 
ease and glory of a soldier's life. 

As the early morning sun looked down upon the camp where 
rested the 122d Regiment, during its first night on the " sacred 
soil " of Virginia, it revealed the contents from many a knapsack 
which the soldier deemed unnecessary as he started on his second 
day's march. 

After only a brief delay the Regiment was moved to Fairfax 
Court House, where it was assigned to General Piatt's Brigade, 
composed, with it, of the 86th and 124th New York Yolunteers. 

This Brigade subsequently became the 3d of the 3d Division 
and 3d Army Corps. 

I need not recall the anxious weeks of marching, counter- 
marching and drill, through which the command now passed and 
which always constitutes the most trying experience in the earlj^ 
life of the soldier — tr3ang, because seemingly sounnecessary and 
yet so vital in training for the exposure and suffering incident to 
a soldier's life in time of war. 

The further history of the 122d Regiment now becomes the 
history, in part, of the Army of the Potomac. 

Pope having been beaten at Manassas, the Confederate army, 
flushed with victor}-, marched northward, crossed the Potomac, 
and while threatening Wasliington, proclaimed freedom of speech 
and action to all citizens of Maryland who were willing to show 
their sympathy for the cause of the South. 

While our Division, General Whipple commanding, was left in 
charge of the defenses about Washington, the Army of the Po- 
tomac under McClellan also passed north, and by rapid move- 
ments the advance columns engaged the enemy before Lee had 
time to concentrate his forces and fought the battle of South 
Mountain, in which, although the Confederates had greatly the ad- 
vantage of position, they were beaten and withdrew under cover of 
darkness to Antietam. Here they selected their position with care, 
concentrated their whole army, planted their batteries so as to 
do most effective service, and waited the approach of McClellan; 
and here was fought, Sept. 16th and 17th, one of the most sangui- 
nary conflicts of the war, and perhaps up to that time the most 
so of any battle ever fought on the American Continent. 



of the 12'2d Begiment Pennsylvavia Volunleei's. 9 

From this terrible encounter, Lee escaped again to his native 
soil of Virginia. 

Whipi)le's Division, leaving Washington, joined the main body 
of the Union army in Maryland, when McClellan, crossing the 
Potomac near Berlin, moved South by gradual marches until 
Warrenton was reached. At that place McClellan was relieved 
of his command, General Burnside appointed his successor, and 
the army was halted near Falmouth, on the North side of the 
Rappahannock. 

In December, from the 11th to the 16th, was fought the bloody 
and fruitless battle of Fredericksburg, in which the 122d, while 
enjoying the luxury of serving as a target for the Confederate 
batteries, was preserved from the terrible sacrifice to which thou- 
sands of their comrades were invite:^ — of repeatedly charging, 
through shot and shell, through blinding storms of musketry, 
over an open plain, only to find the enemy safely intrenched 
behind a solid stone wall at the base of the impregnable heights. 

We all remember, after the army had returned to the north side 
of the Rappahannock, and a short time had elapsed, how utterly 
futile was the second attempt of General Burnside to surprise the 
€nemy, and how this campaign passed into history as the great 
" mud march." 

It now seemed that the country again demanded a change in 
the leadership of the Army of the Potomac. While the Union 
armies in the West were achieving notable victories, the way 
from Washington to Richmond was still greatly obstructed. 

General Hooker was now called to the front, and Burnside was re- 
lieved. The new Commander had fought in man}^ battles of the war, 
and by his daring and the impetuosity of his attacks had justly won 
the admiration of his superiors and the love and confidence of 
his men. Under the inspiration of his command, the array dur- 
ing the winter was rendered more efficient in discipline, and was 
strengthened by re-enforcements until, in the Spring of 1863, new 
life and hope seemed evei-ywhere visible. 

In the latter part of April the camps at Falmouth were quietly 
abandoned and portions of the arm}^, moving West, crossed the 
Rappahannock and Rapidan at the ujiper fords, and proceeded in 
the direction of Chancellorsville ; while Sedgwick's command, 
designed to attract the enemy's attention, moved down the river 



/ 



10 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion. 

to Franklin's Crossing. The 122d moved with the corps under 
General Sickles, on April 28th, and, proceeding to a point be- 
low Fredericksburg, as if to cross the river in support of Sedg- 
wick, halted and remained until the morning of the 30th, when 
the whole corps moved rapidly West to the United States ford, 
and, crossing, rejoined the main army under Hooker near Chan- 
cellorsville, on May 1. 

Early in the morning of May 2d, the Third Corps was thrown 
well forward on the right centre of the line of battle, between the 
12th and 11th corps, and as Stonewall Jackson, on that day, 
swept around the front of Hooker's entire army, from its left to 
its right, his moving columns were more than once pierced, 
driven off, and thrown into confusion by the advance divisions of 
Sickles' corps. On the right of Sickles rested the 11th corps, in 
command of General Howard, who, though also apprised of 
the large masses of Confederates moving in his front during 
the day, yet believed them to be portions of Lee's army in full 
retreat, until six in the evening, when Jackson, having succeeded 
in massing his entire command of 25,000 men on Hooker's ex- 
treme right, charged with his usual impetuosit}^ striking the 
11th corps in front and on its exposed flank and hurling it back 
in utter confusion and broken fragments towards the centre of 
our line of battle. 

When the tide of disaster reached the 3d corps it was fortu- 
nately checked. Every foot of ground was stubbornly con- 
tested by Sickles, Stonewall Jackson fell, mortally wounded, 
and the Confederate columns were stayed. 

It was now late in the evening of Ma}' 2. During the night 
the lines of the Third corps were re-formed and by a bold attack 
Sickles pushed back the enemy, regaining part of the ground lost 
by Howard's disaster, and posted his guns so as to effectually 
cover the open space about the Chancellor House. 

At early dawn on Sunday morning the Confederates pushed 
forward heavy columns on their chosen i)oints of attack, and 
never did men with more desperate determination, more utter 
recklessness of life, dash themselves upon Sickles' corps, whose 
40 cannon, ably fought, tore through their close ranks with fright- 
ful carnage. 

" In the Annals of the War," says an eye witness, " there has 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 11 

been no greater manifestation of desperation than that shown by 
the Confederates on this Sunday morning. They came through 
the woods in a solid mass, receiving in their faces the terrible 
hail storm, which burst like the fury of a tornado from the lines 
of Berry, Birney and Whipple. The batteries hurled in grape 
and canister. The advancing column was cut up and gashed as 
if pierced and ploughed by invincible lightning. Companies and 
regiments melted away, yet still they came. Whipple, Berry and 
Birney advanced to meet them. Tlie living waves rolled against 
each other as you have seen the billows on a stormy sea. The 
enemy, as if maddened at the obstinac}^ of these handfuls of men, 
rushed up to the muzzles of the cannon, only to be hurled back, 
leaving long lines of dead where the storms of grape and canis- 
ter swept through." 

Sickles could not hold out against these tremendous odds. 
Twice had he sent urgent appeals to Hooker for re-enforcements, 
but the Commanding General himself had been stricken down by 
a shell from the enemy's guns and was thought to be dying. 

During that fatal hour the army was without a leader, and Sickles, 
instead of being supported by 10,000 fresh troops, out of the 30,- 
000 not engaged, and thus enabled to have driA'en the enemy 
from his front and achieved a substantial victory, was compelled 
to gradually give way and take up a new line more contracted 
and more easily defensible, against which the fury of the storm 
spent itself in vain. 

The 122d,in this desperate encoimter, suffered severely in killed 
and wounded. 

Generals Berry and Whipple were among the number who fell 
mortalljr wounded on that fatal day. General Sedgwick, who had 
crossed below Fredericksburg, stormed and taken the Heights, 
and was now marching his forces in the direction of Chancellors- 
ville, was suddenl}' halted by a division of the Confederate army, 
detached by bee for that purpose, and was afterwards attacked 
in such numbers, during the evening and night of May 4th, as 
to overwhelm him and drive him across the Rappahannock at 
Bank's ford, with heavy loss. 

On the night of May 5th Hooker also crossed at United States 
ford, and thus ended this remarkable series of battles on the 
lines of the Rappahannock. 



12 Transactiom of the First Annual Reunion 

After the death of General Whipple, his body was forwarded 
to Washington, and the 122d was ordeied to accompanj^ it to act 
as escort at his funeral. 

At the conclusion of these sad rites, the Regiment's term of 
service having now expired, it was ordered to Harrislnirg, where, 
on the 15th and 16th days of May, it was mustered out— the men 
returning to Lancaster, May It, 1863, just twenty years ago to- 
day. 

Thus briefly, and no doubt in many respects inaccurately, I 
have sketched the organization and work of the 122d Regiment. 
We who are here to-day were permitted to witness the triumph- 
ant close of the war, and after almost a generation has passed 
are allowed to greet each other on this happy occasion. 

Not so with our brave comrades, who, more than twenty years 
ago, on that beautiful Sabbath morning in May, gave up their 
lives, freely sacrificed in a cause the ultimate success of which 
was yet in doubt; not so with those of our number, equally he- 
roic, who, when their youthful faces were first turned toward the 
seat of war, their hearts sw^elling with patriotism, as with joy 
they thought of the glory they should achieve on the field of bat- 
tle, yet, with wasting disease, slowly perished on the weary 
march, enduring their great sufferings in quiet, for their coun- 
try's sake. 

From the graves of our fallen comrades— a Kling or a Bailey, 
sleeping peacefully on the field of Chancellorsville, a Readman 
or a Wade, resting in quiet repose at Berlin or Falmouth— there 
comes to us to-day an inspiration, voiced from every patriot 
grave all over this great Republic, quickening our devotion to 
the government and institutions for which they gave their lives, 
and to the great cause of liberty throughout the world. 

No historian whose pen shall trace out the causes which led to 
the great American conflict, record its deeds of valor and heroic 
suffering, and not devote many of his brightest images to tell of 
the noble, self-sacrificing spirit of Christian women in that time 
of the nation's peril, can merit or receive the approval of those 
for whom he writes. 

Probably never in any war, in any country, was there so uni- 
versal and so specific an acquaintance on the part of the women 
with the principles at issue and the interests at stake, and it Is 



of the 122d Regiment Peiwsylvojna Volunteers. 13 

impossible to over-estimate the amount of consecrated work done 
by them for the army. Amid discouragements and fearful delays 
they never flagged, but to the last increased in zeal and devotion 
many denying themselves the comforts to which they had al- 
ways been accustomed, that they might wind another banrlage 
around some unknown soldier's wound, or give some parched lips 
in the hospital another sip of water. God himself keeps this 
record ; it is too sacred to be trusted to man. 

But the great cause has triumphed. Our government, with all 
its blessings of freedom, is established on a firmer footing than 
before the war. The great root of Intterness has been plucked 
up. Free government has shown itself able to defend itself ; able 
to secure to the people of this country the blessings of liberty ; 
able to maintain their rights against the most formidable attack 
which any conspiracy or nation can organize. 

In this great cause, the 122d Regiment has borne her part. 
She has done what she could to make clear the true principles 
and results of the conflict; to uphold the flag of the country on 
the field of battle ; and many of her number have laid down their 
lives that they might contribute to the attainment of our national 

success. 

And now, as we turn our faces away from the glorious achieve- 
ments of the past, whose fading memories will soon depart for 
ever, let us look out into the great future, full of promise and 
hope. Can we not there discern this magnificent Republic, our 
beloved country, as she marches proudly and grandly in the lead 
of the nations of the earth : chastened, it may be, by the struggles 
and blood stains of the centuries through which she has passed, 
yet with gathered strength for every noble purpose and respon- 
sive to every impulse of an enlightened civilization. 

In that glad day there shall remain no trace of the State sov- 
ereignty and sectional bitterness of the past, but as the grand 
column moves onward, in the procession of the ages, this great 
nation, growing in splendor and power as time advances, shall re- 
ceive welcome plaudits and grateful homage from the North, the 
the South, the East, and the West— a country unbroken and in- 
destructible. 



14 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 



ORATION 



BY J. DAVIS DUFFIELD, ESQ., OF PlITLADELPHIA, PA. 



Friends and Comrades: 

If this were the anniversary of the- departure of our Regi- 
ment for the seat of war there could have been no appropriate- 
ness in my selection for this part of the programme ; but as it is 
the anniversary of our return, I can recognize the entire propriety 
of such selection, remembering that I was a very sick boy in 
going to war, and a very glad one in returning. 

Well do I remember the kind reception which awaited us on 
our return at the hands of the citizens of Lancaster. The repast 
that was set before us in the Court House afforded a happy con- 
trast to the previous meals of hard tack, pork and coffee which had 
so frequently been furnished us at the expense of Uncle Sam. The 
greetings I'eceived by members of the Regiment who were at 
home here aroused considerable env}'^ in me, I can assure you, 
and made me wish in m}^ isolation that I had either been born in 
Lancaster county, or were able to transport from Bucks county 
some of my friends for the occasion. I was struck on that oc- 
casion with the amount of beaut^^ which the city afforded, and am 
not quite sure that I have yet recovered from the effects of that 
impression. I congratulate you who returned as I did (and were 
perhaps almost as glad to get back) that you did return, and 
were not left upon some of the battle fields of Virginia as sac- 
rifices to the insatiable Moloch of war. 

It is a subject of congratulation, also, that so many of us have 
been spared through the years that are past to meet together at 
this reunion — the 20th anniversary of our return ; and let us, 
while enjoying the festivities of this occasion, not forget to bring 
to mind others of our comrades who were left upon the field of 
battle, as Avell as those who have gone since their return to join 
the " bivouac of the dead." With our mirth let us minole our 
tears, and let our joys be softened b}^ our prayers for those who 
have gone before. There will perhaps be few opportunities af- 



of the li32d Regiment PenriHylvania Volunteers. 15 

forded us who survive to meet togetlier as we do to-day ; so let us 
enjoy this occasion in the full spirit of " fraternity, charity and 
loyalty,"not knowing which of us, before another similar occasion 
shall be presented, shall have answered the " long roll of death." 
The faces of Maj. Thad. Stevens and Q. M. Sergt. Jacob Mar- 
tin are present to m\' mind — although absent from this occasion 
■ — the former good natured and kindly, the latter alwaj's jolly 
and social. Let it be hoped that there may possibly be reunions 
of our comrades in the spirit land, and that the dead that have 
gone before are having a counterpart of this occasion in realms 
which their valor and their virtues have won for them. 

We know not the future, but only the present and something 
of the past, but nothing has ever so thoroughly stirred the hearts 
of a people (and probably' nothing ever will) as the services and 
sacrifices of its soldier}-. The soldiers of the Union have on 
every hand received recognition and gratitude ; and it has only 
been in cases where the designs of crafty politicians have been 
attempted to be carried out, through the prostitution of this 
sentiment, that the people have revolted. The names of Kearney, 
Sedgwick, Whipple, McClellan, Hancock, Meade, Grant and hun- 
dreds of others stand on the pages of their country's liistory as 
examples of military stbility and courage for the emulation of fu- 
ture generations, and are enshrined in the hearts of the people in 
gratitude for their services in maintaining this government " of 
the people, by the people and for the people." Their swords are 
now beaten into plowshares, as our bayonets are turned into 
pruning hooks ; and let the glory of the soldier not be dimmed 
by the. mistakes of the partisan nor his valor forgotten through 
the faults of the politician. " Peace hath her victories as well as 
war." 

The mai'ches, the camp fires, the bivouacs, the parades, and the 
drills of the Regiment in which we joined come vividly to our 
minds ; and I have often wished that just for one evening (not, of 
course, for a great length of time) the scenes of a camp fire could 
be restored. Some of the experiences of our soldier life were 
thoroughl}^ enjoyable ; and I am not unmindful of the forages 
that were made with such refreshing results to the inner man. 
However, be it said to the credit of Col. Franklin, that he always 
took proper measures for repressing any undue spirit of wanton- 



16 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

ness in that direction, although his efforts to protect a certain 
hen house on the urgent appeals of the good woman of the man- 
sion in a night march on the road down to Piedmont did not 
prevent a number of dishes of chicken broth from being served 
up next morning, as I myself can testify. 

The quickness with which a number of pigs and calves were 
disposed of later on in the march towards Falmouth, on a bright 
winter's afternoon, would have earned positions for a number of 
our men at a first-class abattoir; and, if I remember aright, the 
Colonel's cook was put in charge of some of that pork. Some 
of you, my comrades, may remember that this occurred upon the 
farm of a man whose milk house loft was well filled with apples 
aud potatoes, and some of you may remember having been chased 
out of that loft by the proprietor of the premises, not, however, 
without a certain amount of booty having been secured. The 
locking of the door of that loft, you will remember, put a stop to 
foraging in that direction. 

It is unfortunate that war means a relapsing into primitive 
conditions of life — communism pales before its lurid light. The 
restraints of civilized life are relaxed, and that which in peace 
would be considered a crime becomes in war a merit to be re- 
warded. It means desolation, destruction and death; and it 
also means present and resulting demoralization to society which 
cannot be immediately reinvested with its wholesome and proper 
restraints. In the language of Burke : " War suspends the rules of 
moral obligation, and what is long suspended is in danger of being 
totally abrogated. Civil war strikes deepest of all into the man- 
ners of the people. The}' vitiate their politics ; they corrupt 
their morals ; they pervert even the natural taste and relish of 
equity and justice. B}' teaching us to consider our fellow crea- 
tures in a hostile light, the whole body of our nation becomes 
gradually less dear to us. The ver}^ names of affection and 
kindred, which were the bond of charity, become new incentives 
to hatred and rage when the communion of our country is dis- 
solved." That we may have no more of it is the wish of all who 
have participated in it. North and South, although the coming- 
generations of our country, knowing nothing of war but b}^ tradi- 
tion, ma}^ rush into it and obtain the wisdom of its experiences. Let 
it be hoped that this country will never again witness a war of sec- 



of the 122(1 Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. It 

tion against section, brother against brother. Dearly has the South 
paid for her errors in the loss of her property and her sons ; and 
while we may have little or no regard for their so-called " states- 
men" who labored so zealously to bring it about, yet toward those 
who fought against us we can only feel as brave men should feel 
toward each other. Would that their valor had been shown and 
blended with our own against a common enemy, rather than in 
an efiort to perpetrate the crowning iniquity of our American 
civilization (in derogation of the rights of humanity and in vio- 
lation of the laws of God), the institution of human slavery. 
The progress of human intelligence had lighted up its iniqui- 
ties to the dullest comprehension, and whatever fatuity of reason- 
ing may have blunted the conscie\ices and dulled the sensibilities 
of our brethren at the South, there is a result attained in its abo- 
lition which promises development of their resources wherefrom 
shall flow wealth and power for them. Joining hands with them, 
we (soldiers of the North and South), in defence of a common 
country', can well bid defiance to any foreign adversary ; and to 
au}^ that may dare assail us we may say with Henry the V in the 

play : 

"Take heed, 
How you awake our sleeping swords of war, 
We charge you in the name of God, take heed ! 
For never two such kingdoms did contend 
Without much flow of blood, whose guiltless drops 
Are every one a woe, a sore complaint 
'Gainst him, whose wrong gives edge uiito the swords. 
That make such waste in brief mortality. "' 

It seems in strange contrast with the sequence of events to read 
upon a tombstone in Hollywood Cemetery at Richmond of a 
brave son of the South, who, so it states, " was killed in the bat- 
tle's front while charging the eneni}^ at Malvern Hills, July 1, 
1862," this insci-iption : 

"Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead. 

Dear as the blood he gave, 
Fear not that impious foot shall trea<l 

The herbage of your grave. 
Your glory shall ne'er be forgot 

While fame her vigil keeps, 
Or honor points the sacred spofc 

Where a soldier proudly f^leeps."' 



18 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

No impious foot trod tlie herbage of that grave in mine, al- 
though a foot that marched against his friends and kept step to the 
music of the Union; and I could but wish with all my heart "that 
his glory might never be forgotten," dimmed as it was by the 
cause for which he fought. His valor, as well as that of those who 
fought with him (of the same race and blood with ourselves, as 
they are), from Robert E. Lee down to Charles Harris McPhail 
of the 6th Regiment Virginia Volunteers (as his tombstone an- 
nounced), should be remembered in honor of American spirit and 
courage ; and let it be hoped that Manassas and Antietam, 
Fredericksburg and Grettysburg, shall be in the future synonyms 
of American courage and daring, as are Cherubusco, Chepultepec, 
and Mexico. 

Would that the lives sacrificed on both sides might have been 
spared to their country with all the wealth thej^ would have 
made ; and that same higher statesmanship like that of Wilber- 
force and Buckstone in the British Parliament might have 
brought about peacefully the abolition of property in man (with 
compensation for its loss, if you please) without waiting for the 
shock of arms to accomplish what to-da}^ stands accomplished 
by such greater sacrifices of treasure and such great sacrifices of 
life. 

The technicalities of the rights of persons or propertj'^ should 
neA'^er be allowed to stand as the muniments of public wrongs. 
If the Federal Constitution is to be the palladium of our liberties 
let the power be recognized as existing somewhere (in Congress, 
if you please) that will warrant the just obliteration of rights as- 
serted in derogation of human liberty, whether the}^ be techni- 
cal corporate rights which in the present are made the en- 
gines of oppression of the people or tlie rights of property in 
man,, asserted as protected by that instrument in the past. There 
has never been any trouble in divesting the rights of an Indian 
tribe to a reservation, as soon as it was discovered that it con- 
tained a sufficientquantity of gold or other valuable minerals 
to tempt the cupidity of the requisite number of speculators 
and Congressmen to bring it about. In what shape human cu- 
pidity will next threaten the dismemberment of the country none 
can tell; but do not let us (rather our posterity, it is to b? hoped) 
wait next time until we are in the clutches of a monster to realize 



of the 122 d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 19 

itshideousness ; but throttle it at once, without waiting until it 
" unknits the churlish knot of all abhorred war." 

In stranoe contrast with the national cemeteries of the Union 
soldiers stand the cemeteries of the Confederate dead. While 
the graves in the former have marble pieces at head and foot, 
with names inscribed thereon where known, the graves of the 
Confederate dead are marked by wooden sticks at either end 
with numbers stamped on tin labels, fastened thereon. At 
Fredericksburg, in what contrast stands the Union ceme- 
tery with the Confederate soldier side of the cemetery of that 
place. The latter is very much neglected, the tin labels having 
in many cases dropped off, while the Union cemetery is kept in a 
neat and tidy condition at the expense of the government, with 
a Superintendant always in charge to give information and keep 
it in order. What a sigh comes from the heart as we read that 
of the 15,243 soldiers interred in the Union cemetery at Freder- 
icksburg, 12,tl0 are unknown, while in the Union cemetery at 
Richmond, on the Williamsburg road, of the 6,529 soldiers in- 
terred, only 838 are known, and a like story is told at the Fair 
Oaks Cemetery. What a tale is told in this number of unknown ; 
and may we not mourn the fate of those, ungathered in ceme- 
teries, who have literally gone to be " brothers to the insensible 
clod, which the rude swain turns with his share and treads upon," 
with nothing to indicate to whom honor is due ; only the absence 
of the ftice from the hearthstone and the aching void in the 
hearts of kindred and friends serve to perpetuate the glory of 
the unknown dead. 

May we say with Sothern : 

" Dost tliou know the fate of soldiers ? 
They're but ambitious 'tools to cut a way to her unlawful ends." 

This is not true of the Union dead, although doubtless some 
of them were the " tools " of ambition ; and, so far as the battle 
of Fredericksburg was concerned, some of them were the victims 
of incompetency, imbecility or intoxication. Fredericksburg 
was a chapter of horrors ! Nothing but insanity or drunkenness 
could have planned that attack in front upon the Confederate po- 
sition on Maries Heights. In looking down from the stone wall 
of the cemetery what a long unbroken sweep the Confederates 



20 Tronsactions of the First Annual Reunion 

had against the advancing forces ; and tlie frightful slaughter 
which ensued and could easily have been foretold is only indi- 
cated by the story told me by an officer of Longstreet's corps, 
that the next day after the withdrawal of the Union troops you 
could walk from the road fronting the cemetery down to Freder- 
icksburg, a distance of from one-half to three-quarters of a mile, 
on the Union dead, Avithout touching the ground, so thickly 
were the}'^ strewn. It was madness to advance human beings in 
the open field against the storm of fire which the shelter of that 
stone wall allowed to be poured upon our men. The cottage of 
the old dame who during that battle ran up and down. the Con- 
federate lines cheering her brethren, without receiving a scratch, 
still stands by the roadside, marked all over with bullets, and 
she still survives, and lives in it. She was angry at once before 
having been turned out of her house on the announcement of the 
coming of theYankees, and, on her returning from this false alarm, 
swore that she would not leav.e it again, and did not, although 
the fiercest of that fierce fight raged all around her and her home. 
The folly of Fredericksburg was proven by the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville, wJien Maries Heights was reached in the rear by 
Sedgwick; and b}^ the Grant campaign, when his army passed 
around Fredericksburg, leaving it in their rear after the Battle of 
•the Wilderness. 

As 1 stood by grave No. 2,647 at Fredericksburg, that of J. 
H. Martin, the inquiry suggested itself, was that the grave of 
Corporal Joseph H. Martin of m}' own company ; but on read- 
ing further discovered that the deceased had been killed at Get- 
tysburg, so that it could not hav'^e been he unless he subset^uently 
re-enlisted. Many of us would doubtless have been in that list of 
unknown had we not been saved many of the perils of the war by 
the shortness of our term of enlistment. Our patriotism was proved 
by our enlistment, and I know that the Regiment was always 
ready to obey orders, and always did its duty. Many of our 
Regiment as well as many of our comrades wlio re-enlisted sealed 
with their blood their devotion to the flag. It was not our 
faults that we were considered too raw to be put into the front 
at the second battle of Bull's Run ; and it was not our faults 
that we were considered so necessary for the defense of Wash- 
ington that we were not ordered to the fields of South Mountain 



of the 122(1 Regiment. Pennsylvania Volunteers. 21 

and Antietam. Let the services of the Regiment at Fredericks- 
burg and Chaneellorsville silence all cavil, if any there be. 

In looking over an old letter written from the camp on Mi- 
nor's Hill, October 5th, 1862, T find that I stated that "in the fore- 
noons from 8 to 11 we are drilled in company' drill, while the af- 
ternoons from 2 to moon-shine are spent in regimental or brigade 
drill. Yesterday afternoon the boys were kept out by the Briga- 
dier initil the stars were commencing to shine. If we were 
marched in review once a week, the men would take pride in 
these reviews ; but when it becornes the order of the afternoon 
for a week at a time the men conduct themselves with a careless 
indifterence which the most vigorous discipline cannot over- 
come." 

From this I judge that I very soon found out that I had made 
a mistake in not enlisting as a Brigadier General ; and I know that 
after carrying a musket for three months I was detailed on extra 
duty at Brigade headquarters, and this was probably, in my posi- 
tion, the best thing that could have happened, not having enlisted 
as a Brigadier General. 

At the close of the second battle of Bull's Run, you will remem- 
ber the circumstance, of our having been ordered to Centreville ; 
and beyond Fairfax Court House, which we reached by a forced 
march, we were met by a staff officer, who, when told by Col. Frank- 
lin, in reply to his question, that we were going to Centreville, ac- 
cording to orders, replied, " going to hell," and put us in line of 
battle for the night a short distance beyond. The worst of us 
miffht have already reached that undesirable destination if our 
march to Centreville had not been stopped. You will remember 
that the rain came down in torrents that night, and I have no 
doubt that man^^ of you like myself expected to be put in the 
hospital the next day ; but, strange to say, although that was my 
first experience in stajang out all night in the rain, I was verj'^ 
agreeably disappointed in the result and did not sufter in the 
least from the exposures of that night. 

The feat of getting a canteen of whisky to Lieut. Fell, and the 
boys of my company, who were " stuck in the mud " with Burn- 
side, considering the depth of the mud on that occasion, was one 
which earned me the everlasting gratitude of the hoys, whether 
my country shall ever appreciate the service or not. 



22 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

On the occasion of a recent trip to Fredericksburg, I stood in 
front of the Lacy House, in the position from which I had viewed 
the battle, and looking over the quiet town there was nought to 
remind me of its former conflict save the flag which quietly floated 
on the breeze and the green mounds of the cemetery on Maries 
Heights. How changed the scene ! The smoke of the factories 
had taken the place of the- smoke of powder ; the rattle of the 
shuttle, instead of the rattle of musketry ; and the roaring of the 
waters of the Rappahannock in the place of the roaring of artil- 
lery. May these scenes never again be disturbed by the conflict 
of arms. In going through Falmouth to remind me of my former 
trip, I saw the same old couple leaning over the garden gate of the 
cottage on the hill coming out of the town, that I had seen near- 
ly twenty years before. Old then, but older and decrepit now; 
survivors of the ravages of both time and war. 

The battle fields of the war teach many lessons in peace. Be- 
tween the Union and Confederate rifle pits, on the nine mile road 
beyond Fair Oaks (relics of the Grant campaign), I picked up, ly- 
ing peacefulh'^ side by side (having both, perhaps, performed their 
missions of death), the round bullet of the Confederate and the 
elongated minnie ball of the Union soldier. . To err is human, to 
forgive divine; so should we of the two sides, since our mis- 
sions of death and destruction are over, stand side by side and 
work shoulder to shoulder to restore the prosperit}^ of the coun- 
try, develop her natural resources and do all that lies within our 
power to promote her glory and maintain the dignit}- of American 
citizenship. We of the North, in the exultation of our success, 
showing that magnanimity which our success renders us bound to 
extend. They of the South, showing in their defeat the proper 
regret for their faults, so that the South shall say to the Xorth, 
" give-up," and the North to the South, " keep not back." 

Let our regrets and our sorrows be mingled together for the 
lost and the slain, of our homes and our firesides, who are, 

" By the flow of the inland river, 

Where the fleets of iron have fled, 
Where the blades of the new gjrass quiver, 

Asleep in the ranks of the dead." 



of the 123d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 23 

"So when the summer calleth, 

On forest and fields of gram, 
With an equal murmur falleth, 

The coolmg drip of the rain. 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Wet with the rain the Blue, 

Wet with the rain the Gray. 

' ' Sadly but not with up-braiding, 

The generous deed was done. 
In the storm of the years that are fading, 

No braver battle was won. 

Under the sod and the dew, 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Under the blossoms the Blue, 

Under the garlands the Gray. 

"These in the robing of glory, 

Those in the gloom of defeat. 
All with the battle blood gory. 

In the dusk of eternity meet. 

Under the sod and the dew. 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Under the laurel the Blue, 

Under the willow the Gray. 

"No more shall the war crysevei-, 

Or the winding river be red. 
They banish our anger forever, 

When they laurel the graves of our dead. 

Under the sod and the dew. 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Love and tears for the Blue, 

Tears and love for the Gray." 



24 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 



HISTORY. 



BY JOHN SMITH, D. D. S., OF LANCASTER, PA. 



Mr. President and Comrades : 

In the month of July, 1862, Emlen Franklin, of the city of 
Lancaster, Pa., who had served as Captain in the First Regi- 
ment, received authority from Gov. Curtin to recruit a regiment 
fornine months service. Establishing a camp a mile and a-half east 
of Lancaster, recruiting was actively prosecuted, and, with re- 
markable rapidity, fourteen companies were oi'ganized and as- 
sembled at the rendezvous. On the 12th of August tenofthef 
companies were organized in a regiment, designated the One 
Hundred and Twent3^-Second, with the following field officers : 
Emlen Franklin, Colonel ; Edward McGovern, Lieut. Colonel ; 
Thaddeus Stevens, Jr., Major. 

The field officers had all seen service: Lieut. Col. Edward Mc- 
Govern had been a Captain in the 19th Pennsylvania Vokmteers, 
and Major Stevens a private in the three months' service, Captain 
Emlen Franklin's Company. 

Regimental Staff OflBcers. 

Adjutant, First Lieut. Daniel H. Heitshu; Quartermaster, 
First Lieut. John T. MacGonigle ; Surgeon, Wm.' C. Lane ; As- 
sistant Surgeons, Washington Burg and I. C. Hogendobler ; 
Chaplain, Elam Kirk. 

Regimental Non-Commissioned Staff OflHcers. 

Sergeant Major, Wm. H. H. Bockius ; Quartermaster Sergeant, 
Jacob Martin ; Comraissarj'^ Sergeant, Daniel S. Bursk ; Hospital 
Steward, Andrew N. Thomas ; Color Bearer Sergeant, Martin 
H. Dorwart, and, afterward, Corporal John S. Smith and Corpo- 
ral John M. McFalls ; Markers, Private Clark Whitson, Private 
Stape. 



of the 122d Regiment Fennsylvania Volunteer s. 25 

Musicians. 

Drum Major, John P. Shindle; John D. Hughes, Francis P. 
McCnllon, John M. Row, Wm. B. Hindman, Jacob Dntterline, 
Jesse McQuaide, Wm. Watt, L. De W. Breneman, Wm. D. 
Shenck, George Mancha, John Hull, John W. Hubley, M. A. 
Hambright, Rob't P. Taggart, Frank S. Cochran, Charles Yack- 
ley, Thos. McCoy, Henry T. Yackley, Leonard Strickler, Wash- 
ington Potts, Wm. N. Fisher. 

The Commissioned Officers of the Companies. 

Company A — Captain, George Musser, and afterwards Captain 
George M. Franklin ; First Lient., J. P. Weise ; Second Lient., 
Thos. Dinan. 

Company B — Captain, Thaddens Stevens, Jr.. and, afterAvard , 
Samnel W. Howe; First Lieut., Edward T. Hager ; Second 
Lieut., Jacob C, Brubaker. 

Company C — Captain, Smith P. Gait; First Lieut., Robert J. 
Nevin ; Second Lieut., S. G. Behmer. 

Company D — Captain, J. Miller Raub ; First Lient., Daniel H. 
Heitshn, and, afterward, John C. Long; Second Lient., Hiram. 
Stamm. 

Conipan}^ E — Captain, Andrew R. Byerly ; First Lieut., Dan'l 
H. Herr ; Second Lient., David N. Fell. 

Company F — Captain, B. F. Baer, and afterward James F, 
Ricksecker ; First Lieut., John Leaman : Second Lieut., George 
E. Zellers. 

Company G — Captain, Jefferson N. Neff, and, afterward, John 
P. Kilburn ; First Lieut., Henry N. Breneman ; Second Lieut., 
Isaac §. Mulliken, 

Company H — Captain, Louis H. Audenreid ; First Lieut., 
Emanuel Gundaker ; Second laeut., Thomas M. Sumption. 

Companj^ I — Captain, John M. Amweg, and, afterward, H. W. 
Gara ; First Lieut., Wm. C. Reed; Second Lieut., Henr}' A. 
Trost. 

Compan}' K — Captain, Wm. F. Duncan; First Lieut., D. K. 
Springer; Second Lieut., Emanuel C. Dorwart. 

In the early Spring of 18(52, Capt. Jefferson N. Neff, First 
Lieut. H. N. Breneman, Sergeant Jacob Buckwalter, Sergeant 
Isaac Mulliken, Sergeant John Y. Hiestand, Corporal John S. 



26 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

Smith and others recruited a compan}' of about 45 men and took 
the name of Strasburg " Home Guards." Jefferson N. Neff, the 
Captain of the " Guards," tendered the services of the Company, 
which had been drilled in the manual of arms, to Colonel Frank- 
lin to form the new Regiment. The men nearly all pass- 
ed the requisite examination, were duly sworn into the service 
and accepted, and subsequently became Company " G," 122d 
Regiment. The Company was then recruited to the maximum 
standard from the other recruits at the" rendezvous. The com- 
missioned and non-commissioned officers of the " Guards " kept 
their relative respective rank, and marched from Strasburg to 
Lancaster, a distance of over eight miles. 

The Regiment was almost exclusively from Lancaster county, 
and with the exception of the officers had but little knowledge 
of military duty, and, with the exception of Company G, but few 
of the men belonging to the other companies had ever been 
drilled. Company drill was promptly commenced, but before it 
had been carried very far the Regiment was ordered to Washing- 
ton, it having been necessary that all available forces should be 
gathered about the Capital. 

On the 14th of August, 1862, the Regiment broke camp and 
proceeded to Harrisburg, where it was fully armed and equipped, 
and, upon its arrival at Washington on the 16th, it was reported 
to Gen. Casey, then in command of the defenses of the G\ty. 
While quartered at the "Soldiers' Retreat," the Commanding 
General was so well pleased with the fine appearance and soldier- 
ly bearing of the men, as to request its Colonel to remain in the 
city for provost duty. This Col. Franklin respectfully declined to 
do, and added,"thatthe 122d Regiment had enlisted for actiye duty 
in the field, not to play Sunday soldier at Washington." The 
Regiment was at once ordered to Virginia, crossing over the 
Long Bridge about 2 o'clock p. m. of the 16th, under a burning 
sun, with two days rations. The Regiment marched a few miles 
and bivouacked for the night, the first time on Virginia soil. The 
following day a camping place was selected in an orchard a short 
distance west of the first stopping place, and was called " Camp 
Peach Orchard." Here our " First mail " arrived from home. 
All the boys were anxiously waiting for its arrival from day to 
day, and at last orders were published, " The mail has come." 



of the 122d Begiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 2T 

After the distribution a close observer could easily notice among 
the anxious throng who had written the love letters at home, 
and those who were doomed to disappointment at not receiving 
an answer by the first mail. 

The Next Move. 

The next move brought the Regiment to a point on the Orange 
and Alexander railroad near Cloud's Mills, opposite Georgetown, 
where the next camp was established. An Ohio battery and the 
12th New Hampshire joined us here, greatly to the delight of 
the boys, who quickly gathered around the guns of the bat- 
tery, asking many questions concerning them, how far they 
would "shoot," etc. The artillerymen, of course would, invariably 
tell us all they knew concerning their arm of the service. 

The camp, now fairly established, was laid out in five single 
streets formed by "pitching"the tents in tAvo parallel lines,about 30 
paces apart, with the officers' quarters on the right, and the cook 
house on the left of the camp. Strict sanitary regulations were 
adopted at once, and a police squad detailed every day to "clean 
up." A guard house is one of the appointments of a camp, and 
a hospital, but, as there seemed to be no demand for either, none 
was erected at " Camp Peach Orchard." This spoke well of the 
behavior and health of the Regiment. 

Squad, company and regimental drill was promptly com- 
menced. The manoeuvring, awkward at first, soon became quite 
proficient under the discipline and training of the field and line 
officers, and in an incredibly short time the Regiment made a 
creditable dress parade. 

The boys, having became accustomed to guard-mount and 
camp life, began to long for more active service in the field. 
For this they had not long to wait. Gen. McClellan had with- 
drawn his army from the Peninsula and his camp fires could now 
be plainly seen from our camp. The army of Virginia, under Gen- 
eral Pope, was threatened by Lee, who was rapidly advancing 
northward. A battle must soon take place between the two oppos- 
ing forces. For several days contrabands and straggling soldiers 
were pouring in from the front, down the track of the Orange 
and Alexander railroad towards Alexander. They were a sad 
looking party to gaze upon. Each one in turn related his or 



28 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

her (for there were women among them,) own sad story, as to 
how things were transpiring at the front. The boys of onr 
Regiment, of course, took it all in, and believed their wish to get 
into more active service would be soon realized. 

Later, the rumbling of distant cannonading was heard in the 
direction of Bull's Ruu. Later still, the roaring of the artillery 
became more distinct as the fighting became more general, and 
the battle field shifted closer. 

There was now great excitement at Washington, and grave ap- 
prehension was felt for its safety. Two great armies had been 
testing each other for the mastery during the past two days with 
varied success on both sides, and the situation had taken on 
a serious aspect. The Union Commander must have all the 
available forces he could get from the Capital and its sur- 
roundings. 

Col. Franklin received orders to move his regiment to the 
front. The camp, heretofore rather quiet, now assumed a lively 
appearance, preparing for the march. 

On September 1st the Regiment and the attached battery of 
artillery broke camp, leaving the camp equipage in charge 
of Lieut. James F. Ricksecker, of Company F. . 

The day was hot and the roads dusty. The command pushed 
rapidly on. Long lines of ambulances, crowded with the dying and 
the wounded from Pope's army, were metalong the road, the sights 
almost sickening to behold. Methinks I can see the ghastly face 
ilnd up-turned eye, glazed in the last death struggle. It was a hard 
sight for the young and, as yet, untried Reghnent to witness. 
Notwithstanding all the apparent discouragements, the boys 
marched forward like trained veterans. Broken caissons, artil- 
lery carriages, disabled horses, and thousands of stragglers 
were met in turn all that memorable afternoon. The old vet'erans 
gracefully saluted the " new Regiment," with "Where did you 
get your new clothes," " You will get them spoiled before you 
stay long at Bull's Run," " Fresh fish !"and like expressions were 
freely indulged in, to the amusement of the boys, who always 
had a ready answer for the " old veterans." In regard to the re- 
marks about " our new clothes " we were inclined to believe there 
might be more truth than fiction inwhat the old veterans had pre- 
dicted. 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsi/loania Volunteers. 29 

The army of Virginia, under Pope, had been fighting for the 
past three da3's with varied success and defeat, and at the last 
had been forced back to Centerville. This had accounted for the 
scenes witnessed by the Regiment during the past few days. 

On the 31st of August, the day after the battle of Groveton, 
General Lee ordered " Stonewall " Jackson forward toward Fair- 
fax, to turn the Union right, and Pope sent McDowell, Heintzel- 
man and Reno in that direction, intending to attack on the 
morning of the 2nd of September. 

But the heads of the two forces come in contact just before 
dark on the 1st, at Ox Hill, near Chantilly. A fearful thunder 
storm was raging, in the midst of which the engagement began. 
The 122d Regiment had, just before the storm burst upon us, 
reached a point about one* mile east of Fairfax, where it halted. 
Orders were given to " unsling knapsacks," and '' load." The 
knapsacks and all the private property which the boys possessed, 
together with their new overcoats, and woolen blankets, and gum 
blankets which were rolled up and slungaround our shoulders, were 
stacked in a field close to the road and a guard detailed to guard 
them. The guards were subsequently ordered to burn the prop- 
erty to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. The regi- 
ment marched beyond Fairfax to the edge of the woods west of 
the town, the firing of musketry becoming louder and louder and 
more distinct as we approached the scene of conflict in w^hich 
Gen. Stevens' Division of Reno's Corps was being forced back 
by Jackson's men. The rain was now falling in torrents and the 
vivid lightning flash was almost blinding as it lighted up the 
darkness around , for it was now night. Gen. Stevens had just been 
killed in the front. Gen. Kearney now rushed in with his dash- 
ing bravery, and, riding forward alone, in advance of his men, to 
reconnoitre the ground, fell in with a Confederate soldier, from 
whom he inquired the position of a regiment, when the soldier 
fired and Kearney fell from his saddle mortally wounded. 

After the death of these two brave Generals, and darkness had 
closed the action, the 122d Regiment with the battery received 
orders from their officers to counter-march, and with the rest of 
the army, which was now falling back to Fairfax, took a position 
about one and a-half miles north of the tow^n, and lay on their 
arms that night. With the battle of Chantilly, or Ox Hill, as the 



o 



30 Travsactions of tlie First Annual Beunion 

Confederates named it, closed Pope's campaign in Virginia. 
On Sept. 2nd, the 122d was assigned to General Piatt's Brigade, 
now temporaril}' attached to Porter's Corps, which subsequently 
became the Third of the Third Division, Third Corps. After 
lying in line of battle until 2 o'clock on the 2nd, awaiting an at- 
tack from the enemy, who was now advancing on our shattered 
and retreating columns, the division to which the Regiment was 
attached with Porter's Corps slowly withdrew, covering the re- 
treat, the enemy constantl}^ firing on our rear till late in the after 
noon, when he gave up the pursuit, to Alexander. It was not until 
late in the evening ot the same day our Regiment halted for sup- 
per and a little needed rest. Our rations long before had been ex- 
hausted, and foraging had been resorted to during the march. The 
boys resolved not to want if any live stock or vegetables could 
be had for the trouble of securing them. Company " K " had 
already distinguished itself in this capacit}^, which was plainly 
noticeable by the number of old cows and sheep they managed 
to secure at the point of the bayonet. 

The foraging was not altogether confined to Company " K" 
on that memorable afternoon, as there were more hungry soldiers 
besides those who were not too modest to replenish their deplet- 
ed haversacks and hungry stomachs ; so others killed sheep and 
hogs, and took potatoes where they could find them. Notable 
among these was the " bold Irishman," Tommy Tillbrook by 
name, a private of Company "G." He was not satisfied with what 
he took from the old farmers. At supper, while one of the ex- 
tremely modest men of the Company, Corporal No. 4, Company G, 
was roastingthe morsel of" cow " on a stick, havingpotatoes in the 
ashes going through the roasting process, he stepped behind him 
and with, a hook pulled them out of the fire from between the 
Corporal's legs and ate them, at the expense of a hearty laugh and 
a very empty stomach, and this was all for fun. The scant^y meal 
having been served without coffee or other " side dishes," the 
march was again i-esumed, and soon after midnight we found our 
selves within the defenses of Washington. 

Our Brigade was at once marched back to Miner's Hill, to a 
point about six miles to the west of Georgetown. This being now 
the extreme front, a detail of the Regiment was placed on picket 
tor the night. The place of bivouac was surrounded by a dense 



0/ the 122d Berime nt Pennstilvania Volunteers. 81 

forest of pines. Gen. Piatt ordered that all the roads leading to 
the place should be blockaded by felling trees across them, thus 
guarding the approach from cavahy and artillery. This being the 
first time the regiment was on picket, it offered a favorable op- 
portunity to test the endurance and vigilance of the men on that 
dark September night. 

No greater strain ever had been placed upon a similar body of 
men so recently taken from civil life. 

An Incident. 

About one hour after tlie line was established a noise was 
heard among the dense undergrowth, apparently approach- 
ing the line in front. Thinking Mosby's Guerrillas were prowling 
abont, as we had met a few of them (supposed to be) on a former 
occasion, the trusty, but tired, soldier, not wishing to be taken 
prisoner without some resistance, or, at least, giving the alarm, 
raised his musket to a ready. Click, click-, went the lock, a pause 
for a moment, and there was silence again. The musket was 
lowered, .and the soldier again allowed his mind to revel in 
.thoughts of home and friends far away, and the excitement of the 
previous day. Next morning an experience meeting was held, 
when the past night's adventures were discussed in soldier style. 
Our picket line was relieved about 11 a. m., when the hungry and 
tired boys made their way back- to camp, in a clearing of under- 
brush on Miner's Hill, which the boys christened "Camp Dung 
Hill." In a few days the Regiment moved with the Brigade .at 
midnight, making a detour of about twelve miles, bringing up near 
Alexander, just back of the Alms House. This march was 
called "swinging around the circle." 

The same evening, in the midst of a thunder storm, the Regi- 
ment moved over to Fort Richards, and occupied the rifle pits, 
where it remained for some time. Forts Allen, Whipple, and at 
Fairfax Seminary were places subsequently successfully oc- 
cupied, spending little time at any one place. In September 
•when the Confederates were invading Maryland, Washington 
being again threatened, the Regiment and Brigade to which it 
belonged were sent again to Miner's Hill, beyond the immediate 
defenses of Washington, an extreme out-post. The Regiment 
remained here until the middle of October, engaged in drilling 



32 Tranfiactions of the First Annital Reunion 

and picket duty. Here the Regiment received its colors. A 
color guard was now appointed on daily duty, eight (8) 
Corporals and one (I) Sergeant taken from the nine different 
companies, viz.: Martin H. Dorwart, Sergeant, Companj- A; 

James Taylor, Corporal, Company B; , Corporal, 

Company C ; John M. Falls, Corporal, Company D ; Joseph Mc- 
Gowen, Corporal, Company E; James Black, Corporal, Com- 
pany F ; John S. Smith, Corporal, Company G ; , 

Corporal, Company H; , Cor[)oral, Company I; 

Jolin S. Killinger, Corporal, Company K ; Markers, Private 
Clark Whitson, Company E ; Private Stape, Co. K. 

Lieut. Colonel Edward McGovern joined the Regiment here. 

About this time the Brigade, heretofore on detached duty, was 
assigned to Whipple's Division, doing duty in the defenses of 
Washington. The Regiment soon attained the distinction of be- 
ing the best drilled and disciplined in the Division, which it 
maintained until it was mustered out. On the 18th of October 
the Brigade broke camp, crossed the Potomac at Georgetown, 
and marched to Washington, where it joined the troops under 
Whipple and Williams, about 20,000 strong, and proceeded at 
once to join the Army of the Potomac, under McClellan, in 
Maryland. The ti'oops arrived at Sandy Hook about the 21st, in 
good spirits, ready for any forward movement they might be 
called on to carry out. The battles of Antietam and South 
Mountain having been fought and Lee's arn\y having made their 
escape across the river, this efficient body of troops w^ent into 
camp. 

The crossing of the Potomac began on the 2r)th of October and 
continued until the 2d of November, when the whole army was 
over. 

Leaving 15,000 men at and arouna Harper's Ferry, the army 
marched more than 100,000 strong, besides Whipple's and Wil- 
liams' Divisions of 20,000, detached from the forces at Washing- 
ton. 

As soon as Lee was aware of the threatening movement of Mc- 
Clellan, he hastened to counteract it hy moving southward in 
the same direction. 

Jackson with his own Corps and Stuart's Cavalry were halted 
to observe and, if occasion was given, assail the Union forces 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 33 

upon its march, while the Commander of the army proceeded up 
tlie valley of the Shenandoah. 

The Regiment broke camp above Sandy Hook, from thence 
marched to Berlin, where it halted for the night, and crossed the 
pontoon bridge on the following day in the midst of a rain storm, 
which set in during the early morning, and reached Lovettsville 
near evening of the 30th of October. The storm commenced with 
a drizzling rain, now became more violent, and during the night 
many of our tents were razed to the ground, and the boys arose 
next morning completely drenched with the rain; this, added to 
the cheerless surroundings, mud and cold, caused many to think 
of the comfortable homes left behind only a short time previous. 

The campfires were kindled, and soon our camp was all aglow 
and the boys made themselves more comfortable. 

This was only the beginning of the hardships to be endured 
later in the campaign. 

Our sta}^ was short at Lovettsville. Hillsborough was the next 
stopping place of any note, where the Regiment went into camp 
on the " hill " back of the town. Our Division was inspected 
here. This detained us for some time, and the boys took advan- 
tage of the occasion,when oft' duty, to inspect the surrounding 
vicinity, taking the precaution not to venture too far from our 
camp. 

Sergeant Henry S. Skeen, of Company " G," was sent away 
from this camp sick, and subsequently died at Berlin Hospital. 

After inspection the line of march was again resumed, march- 
ing about ten miles a day through favorable weather, halting, 
sometimes for a day or two, other times for the night. 

Snickersville is a small country town on the south side of the 
Blue Ridge. At this place the mountain range is divided 
by Snicker's Gap. Just before the head of Whipple's Division 
passed this point, Stuart's cavalry made a dash through the Gap 
at the advance columns. A short artillery duel ensued, and the 
enemy was driven back. Whipple's Division was halted and 
drawn up into line of battle, but did not get a chance to fire a 
shot. It should be remembered, for days the two hostile columns 
were moving parallel to each other, only a few miles apart, but 
with the Blue Mountains between them. Without any further 
interruption from the enemy, the head of our column pushed for- 



34 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

ward, and divided at a point near Upperville, on or about the 
5th of November, where it halted a sliort time ; from thence it 
proceeded to Piedmont. 

Our column liad been attacked by Stuart, and it was feared 
he would make another dash through Manassas Gap, to cut off 
our supply trains. Accordingly, Gen. Piatt was ordered with his 
Brigade, consisting of the 122d Pa., 124th N. Y., 86th N. Y. and 
the Ohio Battery of Artillery, to proceed up Manassas Gap to 
reconnoitre. The command left Piedmont on the fith, and en- 
countered the enemy's picket post several miles from the Shen- 
andoah. The artillery opened fire, and the enemy mounted horses 
and fled at the first shot. A few shells were fired at our battery 
from a rebel field piece stationed on the opposite hill, passing 
harmlessly over the artiller3'^ and the 122d in support of the Bat- 
tery. 

This marked a new era in the soldier life of our boys, this be- 
ing their first baptism of fire. After the firing ceased the in- 
fantry advanced through the brush and undergrowth, and skir- 
mishers were thrown on the flanks. Company K, of 122d, deployed 
on the left of the line and made a few captures, being their first 
experience in that line of warfare. 

The Brigade was formed in line of battle on each side of the 
road in an open field, advanced some distance and halted. It 
again broke into columns and marched up the road to within a 
short distance of a small village nestled at the foot of the moun- 
tain. The road here made an abrupt bend, losing its course in the 
deep and narrow cut which leads out to Front Royal. Not be- 
ing able to push the skirmishers beyond this point with safety, 
the column was counter-marched, and returned to camp, arriving 
on the evening of the 9th, hungry and foot-sore. 

Incidents of the March. 

There was a good opportunity for the boys to forage on the 
wa}' back. Chickens, turke3'S and steers wei-e taken, in spite of 
the efforts made b}'^ Piatt's staff to prevent it. 

A few of Company K's men, of the 122d, rode back to camp on 
a pair of oxen. 

The Chaplain, with a few of the 122d, made a raid on a per- 
simmon tree,a short distance from the marching column. The Com- 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 35 

manding General happening to see them, after a quantity of the 
luscious fruit had been clubbed to the ground, approaching the 
party with a brace of Colt's revolvers, swore he would shoot the 
first man that would attempt to pick the persimmons up. Notwith- 
standing the threat, the brave but hungry boys picked up what 
they could and carried them away in triumph. 

When the Regiment left Piedmont the boys took two days' 
rations with them. Many failed to take their ration of bacon. 
Instead they took double rations of coffee and sugar, thinking, per- 
haps, it would be more convenient to carry, and as they did not 
feel particularly partial to bacon just then ; at any rate, they 
would depend on chance in their temporary absence. The severe 
marching on the return march brought many of those anti-bacon 
boys to their senses as well as their appetite, and they were glad 
to effect an exchange of coffee for bacon when they could find a 
" bacon man " who had been more " penny wise " than " pound 
foolish." Notwithstanding the fatigue of the marching the boys 
seemed to enjoy the trip with becoming fortitude, and the adven- 
ture became the subject of numerous adventures and hair-breadth 
escapes which were subsequently related around the campfires. 
Upon our return to Piedmont shoes were issued and our over- 
coats, which were lost at Fairfax, replaced. The same black 
November night the command moved through rain and sleet 
about four miles and bivouacked in a dense wood near an old 
farm house. The boys made a raid for straw, but, as usual, got 
little of the precious article for their trouble. Next morning our 
tents were covered with " the beautiful snow." A dental opera- 
tion was performed in the night by Corporal Smith by placing 
his patient upon a pile of knapsacks before a campfire, and he ex- 
tracted the offender, to the great joy and after-comfort of the 
soldier. This was not the first nor did it prove the last suff'erer 
the Corporal relieved during the nine months campaign. Olean 
was reached in due time, and Waterloo came next. Here a forag- 
ing party was sent out, consisting of details from Companies 
" F " and " H," Company F losing one man, and Company H 
five men by capture. 

The roads were heavy, and it was with difficulty the supply 
trains could move. In consequence, the men suffered considerably 
for the proper quantity of rations, " hard tack " being at a pre- 



86 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

mium, and the mud too plentiful for comfort. Lee's movements 
were closely watched, as our forces were daily expecting an at- 
tack. No general demonstrations being made, however, our col- 
umns pushed slowly forward to Warrenton, where the Arni}^ of 
the Potomac was massed. By this time Lee had the advance of 
McClellan, and succeeded in passing from the valle}' of the Shen- 
andoah into that of the Rappahannock, and took position at Cul- 
pepper, a half score of miles to the north of Warrenton. But in 
effecting this operation Lee had pla^'^ed into his opponent's hands 
and gave him an opportunity to strike more favorably than he 
had dared to anticipate. 

General McClellan resolved to assault. But this intent of 
vigorous action came too late. His removal from the command 
had been resolved upon. Upon the stormy night of the 9th of No- 
vember, when McClellan had given directions for the next two days, 
a messenger from Washington reached the headquarters of the 
army, bearing an order dated two days before, removing him 
from the command of the army and directing Burnside to assume 
it. Burnside now organized his forces into three " grand divi- 
sions," Sumner being placed in command of the " Right," Hooker 
of the " Centre," and Franklin of the " Left." 

Piatt's brigade, to which the 122d belonged, became the Third 
in the Third Division (Whipple's), Third Corps (Stone man's), 
and assigned to Hooker's Centre Grand Division. Burnside be- 
gan his movement from Warrenton to Fredericksburg on the 
15th of November. On the 18th General Stuart's cavalry made 
a bold dash upon Warrenton, but the Federal arm}^ had gone. 
After leaving Warrenton a drizzling rain set in, through which 
the Regiment marched, as did the rest of the army, marching 
about ten miles during the day, and bivouacked in the mud that 
night. It was now the men suffered most for rations, and the 
inclement weather and exposure began to haA^e a telling effect 
upon the health of the men. 

Our commissary failed to supply the men with adequate ra- 
tions, owing to the bad condition of the roads. At this time 
many of the men went from two to three daj^s with as mau}^ hard 
tack. Especially was this the experience of the infantry; the artil- 
lery men fared better. Still we heard no complaint against our 
Genial Quartermaster of the Regiment, Captain John T. Mac 



oj the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 3*7 

Gonigle, as he had always fed the boys when it was practical so 
to do. 

We laid the blame on Stuart, thinking- he had made a dash 
at our long supply trains in the rear. In this, however, we were 
mistaken as he had always failed to accomplish his purpose. 
About this time, upon a certain night, a soldier of the Regiment, 
after a ten miles march through a cold rain, la^- himself down to 
sleep upon the wet, cold ground, supperless and chilled, with only 
his gum blanket under him and a woollen blanket over him. He 
dreamed that night of home and plenty, with tempting viands 
spread before him. He was about in the act to appease the crav- 
ings of hunger when he awoke, and, to his surprise, found it was 
all a dream; and this was not all, the rain had completely drench- 
ed him in his lowly quarters. On the 20th of November the 
regiment arrived at Falmouth and went into camp near Stone- 
man's Station, where it lay until the army moved on the Freder- 
icksburg campaign, in December. Lee's army was now secure 
behind his defenses on the opposite side of the Rappahannock, 
where he assumed the defensive. 

On the 11th of December General Burnside put his columns in 
motion for an attack on the enem}^ holding the heights above 
Fredericksburg. 

The army was never in better condition to meet its gi'eat ad- 
versary than now, or more eager to march on the foe. On that 
bright cool December morning, when the drums and bugles of 
the different regiments sounded the long role to " fall in," it was 
a grand sight that fell upon the eye never to be forgotten. To 
see these trained veterans march into line as though they were 
going on dress parade was a sight too grand and sublime for mor- 
tal pen to portray at this late day. Having forced a crossing of 
the river with part of the army, a portion still remained on the 
north bank. On the afternoon of the 12th Piatt's Brigade was 
ordered to cross in front of the town. The 122d Regiment suc- 
ceeded in getting fairh^ upon the pontoon bridge as the 124th 
New York came over the brow of the hill, (the 86th N. Y. had 
taken another direction over the hill and marched up the river,) 
and attracted the attention of the rebel gunners, when they 
opened fire from their battery. Having good range of the bridge 
the shells passed over the 122d harmlessly and exploded among 



38 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

the men of the 12th New Hampshire, who were about to enter, a 
number of whom were killed and Avounded. 

The 122d was detained about one-half hour on the bridge, the 
streets in front having been blocked by artillery. It finall}' suc- 
ceeded in crossing under a brisk fire from the battery covering 
the approaches to the bridge, and marched a short distance up 
the river bank and took shelter under cover of the high bluffs 
which rise abruptly to the level of the site upon which Freder- 
icksburg stands. Here the Regiment " stacked arms " and re- 
mained until evening, when it recrossed the river, this time undis- 
turbed, and joined the Brigade, and bivouacked in the mud, as did 
the vest of the Division, until morning. 

An Incident. 

It is no novelty for incidents to happen to the soldier upon 
the march, more especially when within sight and reach of the 
enemy. An entire volume could be filled with them during the 
progress of a campaign, but a few of the most striking must here 
suffice. 

The boys of the 122d, it will be remembered, received their 
first " baptism of fire " at Manassas Gap. a few weeks before we 
reached the ])anks of the Kappahannock, where they displayed 
the coolness of veterans ; but upon the occasion which we are 
to relate, the second time Ave were under fire, the surprise and 
shock was too great for the nerves to endure without manifest- 
ing at least a few signs of fear. Just as the Regiment had fairly 
got upon the bridge, a band, stationed on the north bank of the 
river a little below the entrance of the bridge, began to play (we 
suppose, for the encouragement of the boys,) in a lively strain, 
the familiar air " Bully for you," one we had sang on many for- 
mer occasions. Naturally the boj^s chimed in with the band and, 
those who could, danced to the music, which was now being' 
poured upon our ears in measured cadence. They also sang the 
chorus over and over until a screaching shell came over the 
town and burst a few yards above the bridge. If a thunder clap 
from a clear sky had burst over the heads of that band and those 
devoted soldiers the}^ could not have been more frightened; the 
glorious music was cut short. and thesinoino- and dancing came sud- 
denly to a stoj). The heads of the boys went down with a bow as 



of the 122d Regiment Fennsylvania Volunteevfi. 39 

graceful as if they were all Chesterfields. The band, the gallaut 
band, oh! where were they? they had left the scene of conflict for 
the shelter of the " big house " on the hill, which was the last we 
ever saw of them. Our bo3'S, oh, where were they ! Still keep- 
ing time to the music — now of a different kind — we suppose the 
Johnnies called it " Away down South in Dixie's Land," and the 
heads still keep on bobbing up and down to the cadence of that 
rebel gun, which had so unmercifully tried to either drown or* 
demolish the devoted 122d in their bold attempt to cross the 

river. 

In the Morning. 

The night had been spent on the soft side of a "bed of mud," 
which nature had supplied for the " tired soldier," who had 
dreamed of home and loved ones. No doubt the dream was dis- 
turbed b}^ the recollection of the great excitement of the previous 
day ; however, apparently refreshed, he was ready for another 
move. 

The morning (Saturday) of the 13th broke with a heavy fog 
resting in the valley and shutting each army from the sight of 
the other. Before the fog had fairly lifted, Burnside opened with 
one hundred and fifty (150) heavy guns, posted on the north 
bank, on the town and enemy's works. The firing continued 
with great fury (the shock causing the plaster to fall from the 
rooms of houses over one mile away). The enem}^ waited till the 
fog had cleared away before answering the terrible fire from the 
Federal batteries. The left of the line soon became hotly en- 
gaged. Burnside, unsuccessful in his first assault, ordered 
Hooker, who had held part of the Third Corps in reserve, to ad- 
vance to the support of his thinned lines. Whipple's Division 
was hurried over under cover of the fog, and took a position on 
the right of the right centre, covering the crossing in front of the 
town. The 122d, with-the brigade, crossed about 9 o'clock a. m., 
and took the same position it had occupied the previous even- 
ing. From this place details, by companies, Avere ordered out on 
the skirmish line to the right and south of the town in an open 
sod field, directly in front of the enemy's works, until all the 
companies were on duty with the exception of Companj' " E " 
and the color guard, which received orders to march to the edge 
of the town and take a position behind an old buildino-. This, no 



40 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

doubt, was intended for the rallying point in case the skirmishers 
were driven in. The compan}^ remained here under a sharp ar- 
tillery fire from the enemy's batteries until Gen. Whipple rode 
up and inquired where the Company belonged, and who was in 
command. This inquiry was immediatel}^ responded to by Cap- 
tain Be3^erly, whereupon Whipple ordered the Company and the 
colors out on the skirmish line, which was forming back and to 
'the right of the town, with the remark, "that line must be held 
at all hazards, if it costs the life of every man." At the word 
of command from Captain Beyerly the Company " fell in " and 
marched down to the old mill on Front street, and, under an ar- 
tillery fire which was partially concentrated on the mill, filed 
into the adjoining yard just as company F, 122d Regiment, filed 
out through a gateway at the southeast corner of the mill, which 
led to the open sod field. Company " E " following closely, where 
they soon gained the skirmish line and deployed. The colors 
and color bearers became separated at the gateway from Com- 
pany E as they passed into the sod field, and took shelter in a 
gangway leading to the basement of the mill until the fire slack- 
ened, after which they moved to the line. 

An Incident. 

While the colors were thus cvit off quite a discussion ensued 
between the six Corporals and the Sergeant who formed the 
group at the old mill as to whether their place really belonged 
on the skirmish line or not. While this discussion was going on 
there was no armistice; the shells came thundering and crashing 
into the yard, demolishing old wooden sheds adjacent, and 
through the mill, going in at one end and out at the other, shak- 
ing every timber from garret to basement. 

Between shots one of the party would venture out to recon- 
noitre, only to be driven back again by the crash of a shell which 
passed overhead, or exploded in the yard, or against the mill; three 
or four attempts were thus made when an oflBcer rode b}' and de- 
manded of the writer where he belonged. Replying that he be- 
longed to the 122d and was a color Corporal, just as the officer 
said " this is not the place for the colors to be, 3^01; must be on 
the skirmish line," pointing in that direction, " for the Regiment 
to rally upon in case they are driven in," a shell struck an old 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 41 

shed a little to the right of the officer, sending splinters and 
boards in every direction. This ended the discussion, and prob- 
ably the officer, as he made his exit immediately and I saw him 
no more. 

By this time the skirmish line had pushed towards the line of 
the road leading from Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville, which 
was reached b}^ the color guard with some difflcult3^ A few 
minutes subsequently Corporal John S. Smith, at the time carry- 
ing the battle flag, was slightly wounded by a piece of shell on 
the right arm, being the only man of the Regiment wounded on 
that day. Keeping his place in line, not being much disabled, 
the case was never officially reported. By evening the Regi- 
ment had reached the Orange and Fredericksburg plank road, 
where it remained until relieved. The line was strengthened 
for the night by videttes thrown out beyond the lines. 

We were so close now as to be able to hear the rebels giving 
command to their men on the parapets of their works during the 
night, they no doubt anticipating an attack on the following 
(Sunday) morning. 

The boys gathered rails, laying them lengthwise in the gutter 
by the roadside behind a bank not more than eighteen inches 
high, to keep them from the water and mud, and here they lay 
until morning. 

Sunday morning came after a night of weary watching. The 
day was cold, but clear, and with it aching and stiffened limbs, 
caused by lying upon our hard bed and wet clothing. Nor was 
our condition or the position changed with the coming of the 
day. The men were compelled to crawl about, for they dared not 
walk erect. At an early hour the battle opened again with all 
its wanton fury on our left and continued with unabated violence 
f»r hours, nntil our brave columns were compelled to give up the 
unequal contest. Our Regiment did not become engaged, but 
kept a keen eye upon the foe in our front, ready to meet them or 
charge their intrenched position, if necessary. Notwithstanding 
our hardships we heard no one complain, as we could see plainly 
the greater trials our comrades were called on to endure on our 
left, amidst the carnage which was unmistakably apparent upon 
that part of the field, and as the long lines of ambulances soon 
showed by their serpentine windings over the opposite banks of 



42 Transactions of the First Ayinual Reunion 

the river. Methinks we can hear the boys cheer yet, as they 
gained a little advantage over the enemy; and then the counter 
" rebel yell," so familiar, when they were driven back at so great 
a sacrifice of life. 

The Regiment remained inthe position taken on Saturday night 
until Monday morning about 2 o'clock, when it was relieved by the 
124th N. Y., and then supported a battery south of the toAvn un- 
til daylight. While stationed at this point a portion of the 
picket line, composed of a company of 86th N. Y., were driven 
in. Company "K," of the 122d, commanded by Captain Duncan, 
was sent to their support, and the line was quickly restored and se- 
curely held. The Company remained on duty until regularly re- 
lieved about 9 o'clock a. m., when it joined the Regiment, which 
had retired to its old position behind the bluffs along the river 
front. 

Early on Saturday .morning Brigadier General Piatt, com- 
manding the Third Brigade, met with an accident which disabled 
him from duty by a fall from his horse, when Colonel Emlen 
Franklin, of the 122d, was ordered to assume command on the 
field. The command of the 122d now devolved upon its Lieut. 
Colonel, Edward McGovern. The 122d Regiment with its 
Brigade was on duty fort3'-eight consecutive hours, holding a po- 
sition of vital importance to the safet}^ of the Federal army. 
The Regiment suijtained no loss during those three memorable 
days in killed or wounded. Hard duty and exposure, however, had 
a direful effect upon the general health of the command, subse- 
quently noticeable by the " sick-roll " of the Regiment. 

On the night of the 15th, under cover of darkness, in the midst 
of a rain storm, the Army of the Potomac re-crossed the river, 
and on the following morning (the lOth), at dawn of day, the 
122d reached the north bank of the river, the pontoons were 
swung back, and the two hostile armies were again separated by 
the Rappahannock. The army now went into its old camps ; 
the 122d going into its camp near Stoneman's Station. Subse- 
quently, in Burnside's attempt to move, the Regiment endured 
the peltings of the storm, as did the rest oi the army, and when 
the project was abandoned, on account of the depth of the mud, 
Returned again to camp, a short distance from the site of the 
old one, at Stoneman's Switch, where it established winter-quar- 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 43 

ters. The numerical strength of the Regiment was reduced dur- 
ing the following five months from that fatal disease, camp ty- 
phoid fever, which carried off many, seemingly the most robust 
of the men, and of the line officers who fell a victim was Jefferson 
N. Neff, Captain of Company " Gr," one of the most efficient and 
cultured of the Regiment. 

The Regiment was always ready to fill its quota for general 
picket duty on the front during the comparative inactivity of 
the army which followed the fall campaign. General Hooker re- 
placed Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac, Jan- 
uary 2fith, 1863. By the middle of April he had brought it to a 
high state of efficiency. "It numbered 132,000 men, of whom 
13,000 were cavalry. It was divided into seven Corps, under 
Reynolds, Couch, Sickles, Meade, Sedgwick, Howard, and Slo- 
cum, the cavalry being under Stoneman." 

Lee's army lay in its old position on the heights of Fredericks- 
burg, across the river, and numbered about 62,000 men, of whom 
3,000 were cavalry under Stuart. 

In the early Spring Hooker undertook to turn the left flank of 
Lee's army, and so fall upon its rear. 

" On the morning of April 27th the greater part of the Corps 
of Meade, Howard, and Slocum, about 36,000 strong, broke 
camp and moved in light marching order up the left bank of the 
Rappahannock to Kelly's ford, 2*7 miles beyond the Confederate 
left." 

After moving down to the United States ford, the different 
Corps moved (after brushing the Confederate forces at the ford) 
by different roads to Chancellorsville, which had been designat- 
ed as the place of rendezvous. " Chancellorsville was a few scat- 
tered buildings standing on a clearing jon the verge of the Wil- 
derness," afterward made historic by the series of battles fought 
by the Army of the Potomac, under Grant, in the spring of 1864, 
one year later. " The surface was varied by low ridges, swampy 
intervals and muddy brooks." Sedgwick and Reynolds were 
sent to make a threatening demonstration on the Confederate 
front below Fredericksburg. 

Early on the morning of the 29th the Third Corps, under 
Sickles, to which the 122d Regiment belonged, broke camp and 
moved to a point below Fredericksburg, opposite Franklin's cross- 



44 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

ing of the Rappahannock in the Fredericksburg campaign, where 
it halted. The men having eight days' cooked rations in their 
haversacks, amply prepared for a protracted and vi|:orous cam- 
paign. The men and officers of the Regiment never looked bet- 
ter, nor were they in better spirits than they seemed to be on 
the bright morning they marched from their old camp to the 
strains of marshalled music, which stirred the patriotism of the 
brave men and officers of the Third Corps, with their undaunted 
commander. Major General Daniel E. Sickles, at their head. A 
more beautiful sight could not well be conceived than that which 
met the e3'^e on that bright April morning, when those devoted 
brave veterans marched, many of them very soon to be offered as 
a sacrifice upon their country's altar. 

The Third Corps remained upon the north bank of of the river 
and on the 1st of May it was ordered by Hooker to Chancellors- 
ville. By a rapid day and night's march it reached the United 
States ford early on Saturday morning, the 2d, when it crossed 
the river and before night the Corps had all arrived at Chancel- 
lorsville. 

"Stonewall" Jackson, having been* on the extreme rihgt 
of the Confederate army, in the meantime had made a forced 
march and joined Lee's columns in front of the Wilderness the 
day before. All of Friday night he had meditated, says a writer, 
how he could dispose of his forces so as to turn the Union right. 
A plan was at last hit upon (aided by an old colored man as 
guide) to gain the extreme right of Hooker's army. Jackson 
made a detour of 15 miles, which brought him within 2 miles to 
the west of Howard's position. On Saturday- evening, May 2d, 
at 5 o'clock, Jackson burst upon Howard's position, which was 
weakl}^ posted, being in military phrase " in the air," taking the 
Eleventh Corps by surprise while the men were preparing sup- 
per. " The regiments on which the shock first fell scattered 
without firing a shot," were broken and driven in and swarmed 
down the plank road towards the centre to within half a mile of 
Chancellorsville. " The tide of disaster was fortunately checked 
b}' General Pleasonton with but two regiments of cavelry and a 
horse battery. Taking a score of guns from the debris of Howard's 
Corps he ordered them to be double-shotted. He ordered his 
cavalry to charge into the woods to check the pursuit for a few 



of the 122d Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer?. 45 

minutes. " The guns were pointed low." " The enem}' dashed 
straight towards the guns," but their lines were swept back with 
terrible slaughter. 

At this time Sickles' Corps, part of which was in reserve, was 
near the Chancellorsville House, composed of Whipple's, Wil- 
liams'and Berry's Divisions. With Berry's only he tried to check 
the fugitives from Howard's Corps— some of whom were shot 
down,"and sabered by the staff— but the panic-stricken crowd, 
many with bayonets fixed, charged through them to the rear. 
Wagons, horses, mules, and men came dashing through the woods 
at break-neck speed, and, sweeping on through the darkness, only 
to be seen in the light of the flashing artillery which belched 
forth the missiles of destruction. '■' Berry's Division finally passed 
through the flying hosts and poured a tremendous fire of artillery 
up the road into the woods." 

Jackson was mortally wounded and the rebel columns were 

stayed. 

" During the night Sickles reformed his lines, bringing up part 
of the Division of Whipple, and, by a bold night attack, pushed 
back the enemy and regained a part of the lost breast-works, 
posting his artillery so as to sweep the open ground about the 

Chancellor House." 

"At early dawn (Sunday the 3d), as the fog lifted, Stuart 
moved to attack Sickles. The battle opened in Sickles' front 
with terrible earnestness, the rebels seeming determined to br^ak 
through, and by unwonted daring avenge the fall of the leader." 

" Berry's and Birney's Divisions being in the front received 
the first attack. Whipple's and Williams' Divisions, which were 
held in reserve, were at once advanced to the front. The enemy 
came pouring through the woods in a solid mass, receiving in 
their faces the terrible hail storm which burst like the fury of a 
tornado from Berry's, Birney's, Whipple's, and Williams' lines." 
Colonel Emlen Franklin, commanding the Third Brigade of 
Whipple's Division, was ordered early in the morning to support 
Best's artillery, posted on the left of the road leading past Chan- 
cellorsville to "Fredericksburg. He accordingly placed the Brigade 
in columns of Regiment in the rear of the batteries in the follow- 
ino- order: 8Gth N. Y. V. Volunteers in front; 124th N. Y. Y. 
Volunteers in the centre, and the 122d Pa. Vol. in the rear, com- 



46 Transactions of the First Annual Reunion 

manded by Lieut. Colonel Edward McGrOvern. Here the Brigade 
la}'^ for some time with Birdan's sharp-shooters posted inthe trees 
ill the immediate neighborhood, and to the left of the line, who 
did good service throughout the action which followed. On the 
rebels came. The Brigade was at once formed in line of battle 
to receive them. The head of the column crossing the road to 
the right, the line was formed with the 86th N. Y. on the left, the 
124th jST. Y. in the centre, and the 122d. Pa. on the right. The 
sharp-shooters kept up a steady fire from the trees. The ar- 
tillery opened with firing shells into the woods and beyond on 
the enem}^ jSTotwithstanding the severe fire from the batteries, 
they came creeping through the underbrush towards the batteries. 
As the enem}' approached, the Federal infantry became hotly 
enoaofed. The Third Brigade advanced to meet them. Colonel 
Franklin could be seen riding up and dotvn the line, seemingly 
regardless of the hail storm of lead flying around him, encourag- 
ing his men. The enemy was stayed and the batteries saved 
from falling into their hands. ^s the Brigade pushed forward, 
holding the ground it had won, the enem}' made a flank move- 
ment which nearly proved a disaster to the 122d Regiment, 
which was flanked. Noticing the change things had assumed, 
the commander of the Regiment gave the command to change 
front on right qompany. The right half of the Regiment obeyed 
the order, faced the direction from where the fire was coming, 
thus keeping the enemy at ba}^ ; but, owing to the din and noise 
of battle, the left of the battalion, not hearing the command, kept 
advancing forward, thus exposing it to a raking fire. Regardless 
of this they pushed forward until the enemy's breast works were 
reached. Here a number of prisoners were taken, the rebels throw- 
ing down their arms, and the boys marched them to the rear. 

The underbrush to the right still swarmed with the enemy. The 
right of the Regiment fell back a little and lay down, and now 
the 40 pieces of artillery, under Best, hurled in the grape and 
canister. " The advancing columns were cut up and gashed as 
if pierced, seamed, and ploughed by invincible lightning. Com- 
panies and regiments melted away, yet still they came." 

Berry's and Birney's men now advanced to meet them. "There 
were terrible shocks. The long waves rolled against each other, 
as you have seen the billows on a stormy sea. The enemy, as if 



of the 122(1 Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. 4t 

maddened by the obstinacy of these handfuls of men, rushed up 
to the muzzles of the cannon, only to be swept back, leaving long- 
lines of dead where the grape swept through." 

" In the annals of the war," says an eye witness, " there has 
been no greater manifestation of desperation than that shown by 
the rebels that Sunday morning." 

" General Hooker had been hit with a spent shot from Hazel 
Grove and fell from the concussion. There was no one to send the 
needed support to Sickles when requested. Sickles could not 
hold out against the tremendous odds without assistance. Grad- 
ually he was driven in." The Corps fell back to the rear of the 
line, more contracted and more easily defensible, which was for- 
tified during the night, and against this the fury of the storm 
spent itself. 

The loss of the Regiment in this desperate encounter was one 
hundred and thirty-five in killed and wounded, besides a number 
taken pi'isoner. 

The Regiment lay behind the temporary breast-works on the 
front line on Monday and Tuesday, being annoyed to some ex. 
tent by the enemy's sharp-shooters posted in the woods in front. 
On Monday the 4th, about 2 o'clock p. m.. General Whipple re- 
ceived a mortal wound from a sharpshooter's ball while in the 
act of mounting his horse, the shot taking effect near the spine, 
and died on.ihe field. 

Just before our Division General was carried past our part 
of the line, mortally wounded. Major Thad. Stevens and the 
writer made a narrow escape from a sharpshooter's ball while in 
conversation. Standing a few yards back of the breast works and 
only a few feet apart, a minnie ball " zipted "within a few inches 
of the Major's head, causing him to incline that part a little. It 
is said a missis as good as a mile, but we thought discretion the 
better part of valor, so we quickly got out of range of the " John- 
ny's " death-dealing rifle. There were many just such narrow es- 
capes while we lay behind our works on the line. The enemy 
was evidently ordered to fire low, as the dirt thrown over the 
boys and the " thud " of the balls in the earthw^orks fully attested. 
It Avas not safe at times to look over. Had it not been for the 
friendly shield many more of our boys would have been number- 
ed with their dead comrades who failed to return. 



4 8 Transactions of Die First Annual Reunion 

On Monda}' night, on oui* left, the picket was attacked by the 
enemy, and our Regiment was put under arms until the firing 
ceasied. After this there was comparative quiet all along the 
line nntil about 3 o'clock p. m., on Tuesday, when the enemy 
came creeping through the woods in our front ; with h. sudden 
dash they pressed back our pickets to the open space, not over 
one hundred and fifty yards distant from our breastworks. 

Three regiments from Whipple's Division charged over the 
open space and into the woods, driving the rebels back within 
intrenchments. The Federal artillery now opened a brisk fire all 
along this part of the line with telling ett'ect upon the enemy 
posted in the woods and beyond. His artillery answered the 
fire, most of their shots passing harmlessly over our lines. Lee 
then moved up his infantry, apparentl}^ intending to make a 
general assault, but a fierce storm, arose which put an end to 
the contemplated movement on both sides. This ended the 
fighting at Chancellorsville. 

The rain continued falling the remainder of the day and far 
into the night, which had the effect of driving the men from the 
rifle pits and breast works, which were now filling wuth water 
and mud. The night was " pitch " dark, and, with a few poorly- 
lighted campfires, the men were enabled to group themselves to- 
gether in small squads and lay dow-n upon their gum blankets. 
In this way the most part of the night was passed without 
closing an eye to sleep. At length an order to "• fall in " came, 
and in the darkness the men w'ere finall}^ got into line and or- 
ders w^ere given to move. The bulk of the Union army by this 
time had retreated during the night; the Third Corps, as we sub- 
sequently learned, was held back to cover the retreat across the 
river. At daylight our Division (the Third) reached the Rappa- 
hannock at United States ford. The river was greatly swollen 
by the heavj'^ rain. Our Regiment, however, passed over the 
pontoons in safety. The enem}' by this time had discovered 
the retreat of the Federal forces and had moved some of their 
artillery toward the river to shell our retreating columns. Their 
shells, however, did but little, if any, damage. 

The Kegiment, with the rest of the army, made their way, 
through the mud, which was by this time nearl}- ankle deep in 
man}'^ places along the route, to their old camps. Regardless of 



of the lS2d Regiwent Pennsylvania Volunteers. 49 

order or aii}' particular line of march, they came into camp by 
squads. Upon that Wednesday evening (the 5th), when the roll 
was called by company, many who but a few short days before 
had answered to their names were now absent, awaiting the roll- 
call when the Great Commander shall bid the dead awake, on 
the morning of the Resurrection. 

General Whipple's remains were forwarded to Washington, 
and thither the Regiment was ordered to pi'oceed to act as escort 
at his funeral. On the morning of the 7th the Regiment marched 
to Aqua Creek Landing, where it took boat, arriving in Wash- 
ington tlie same evening and was quartered at the Soldiers' Re- 
treat. 

Tiie following day, with '' reversed arms," the Regiment 
marched from Washington to Georgetown, a distance of six 
miles, witli the funeral of its Division Commander, General 
Whipple, liavii]g the right of the line of procession. At the close 
of the sad rites, its term of service having expired, it was ordered 
to Harrisburg, where, on the 15tli and Kith of May, it was mus- 
tered out of service. On the morning of the Hth, about 1 o'clock, 
it arrived in Lancaster, where a colossal banquet awaited them, 
being served in the corridors of the Court House by the Patriot 
Daughters of the City of Lancaster, under whose auspices it was 
})repared. At the conclusion of the banquet Colonel Franklin 
gave his last command to the Regiment to " break ranks," and 
bade the boys farewell. Three cheers were then given for the 
Patriot Daughters, three for the Colonel and his officers, and 
three foi' the •' Old Flag." The boys then left for their respec- 
tive homes, to be again welcomed by their friends, who were 
watching and awaiting their return. 



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